The Bartender and the Prosecutor
by Fayth in the Music
Summary: Casey could have sworn she'd met Alex Cabot before. She seemed so familiar.   The world is full of chance encounters. That girl who served you drinks, might be the one to convict the man who tried to kill you.


**Febuary 22, 2005  
>LaGuarda Airport<br>7:32 AM **

Alex Cabot sighed, as she looked out the window. The Marshall's were about to ship her off to who-knows-where again. She had just watched the man who tried to kill her convicted. She thought she would be able to resume her life as Alexandra Cabot, the prosecutor. Now, she was going to be getting a completely new identity again. She had just adjusted to being called "Emily Wadsworth, the insurance salesman". Now it started all over again.

As long as she didn't work for another corporation again, she would be somewhat happy.

There was another thing bothering her, though. That lawyer that had her job, Casey Novak. She didn't know what it was, but there was something about her. She couldn't help but wonder, if she was the woman from all those years ago.

* * *

><p><strong>March 8th, 1998<br>Abrucci's Bar at Eatery  
>2:45 AM <strong>

Casey Novak was positive she was the only waitress in New York who spent her free time studying cases, instead of auditioning for Broadway. At least, that was the case at the crappy little joint she worked at. In fact, none of her coworkers even called her by her name. She was simply revered to as "Lawyer".

On that night, she was working the night shift, as the bar tender. She was covering for her co-worker Kim, as she got a last minute call-back for an off-broadway play. Casey didn't mind, though. It would give her an opertunity in the future to pull an all-nighter before a test, if she needed to. Besides, she didn't get to cover the bartender-shift very often. Normally, she just served tables.

Her shift was almost over. In less the fifteen minutes, the place would be closing down. She was the only worker left in the room, and there were only two costumers left. A man, and a woman.

She was running case facts in her head as she began to wipe down the bar. She figured no one else would be ordering anything, so might as well start to clean up now.

Her eyes couldn't help but drift over to the man and the woman. They were sitting at a table on the other side of the room. Both of them looked very clean cut, probably worked on Walstreet, or some high-end law firm. She smiled. Maybe one day, she would be facing off against the two of them in a case. She was slightly tempted to go up to them and saw "One day, I shall be your equal."

There was something slightly off about them, however. She couldn't quite place what it was, though. When she looked at them, alarm bells went off in her head.

Then again, it was late. It had been a long night. She figured it was nothing.

Her eyes couldn't help but look at the man, though. He was smiling at the woman with a sleazy grin. He reminded her of those idiots back at school who thought the world revolved around them, and that they could have anything they wanted. The thought at beating him at trial crossed her mind again, and she grinned.

It was then he got up, grabbing the woman by the hand a little too forcefully. The woman all-to-easily came out of her seat, and slumped on his shoulder. Casey raised her eyebrow. That was a little weird.

She's probably drunk, she told herself. She was working at a bar, after all. Most people left drunk. He probably was the designated driver, or something.

But then she looked at the man again, and again, something inside was screaming at her that something wasn't right.

"Is she alright?" She asked them. The man gave her a smile that was both creepy and charming at once.

"She likes those margerita's a little too much, if you know what I mean," he replied, "I'm taking her back home, so she can sleep it off."

Casey nodded her head, still skeptical.

"Are you her boyfriend?" She asked. He nodded, adjusting his grip on the woman.

"Yes ma'am," he replied.

Casey looked at the woman. She looked like she was sleeping with her eyes opened, and she seemed slightly pale.

"I dunfeel good…" she slurred softly, "...sick..."

"Is she going to throw up?" Casey asked, "I could escort her to the bathroom, if you want me too."

"That's quite alright," the man replied, sounding slightly more annoyed, "We can make it home. My house is close. You can mind your own business."

Casey sighed, as she watched the two leave. There was nothing she could do to keep them here. She had no excuse to keep them there

That's when it dawned on her. If her memory served correctly, the woman only had one drink. In fact, the drink she ordered was mostly fruit juice, with a bit of rum mixed in. There was no possible way she could get drunk off of that, unless she was an ant. The woman had come in when it wasn't busy, so it was easier to remember what people ordered. But, if she only had one drink, then that meant…

"Hey!" She called, and ran out from behind the bar, catching up to the so-called couple, "Put her down!"

She grabbed the woman away from the man, pushing him back in the progress. The woman gave a slight groan, and stumbled onto her shoulder.

"What the hell is your problem?" he yelled at her, amazed at the bartender's brashness.

Casey ignored him, and sat the woman onto one of the chairs.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" Casey asked her, "Do you need anything?"

The woman squinted her eyes, then looked at her and said "It's really bright."

"I should have you sued for harassment!" The man yelled at her, grabbing her shoulder. Casey quickly turned around, resisting the urge to slap the bastard.

"Go ahead, asswipe," Casey spat back, "But in the meantime, she's staying here."

"You have no right," He yelled again.

Casey turned her attention back to the woman, and gently took her hand.

"Ma'am, did you come here tonight with your boyfriend?"

"I...I came here..." she pauses and blinked, "Blind date. Never met the guy..."

"I'm sorry, sir," Casey spat, "It's against policy to let people leave with date-rapists."

"This is ridiculous," the man said, grabbing the woman's arm, "I don't have to take this from some lowly bartender."

Casey grabbed the man's hand away from the woman, and shouted "Leave her alone!" before shoving the man away.

"That's it. I'm calling the cops!"

"Fine!" Casey grinned, "Then I'll just tell them about how you were trying to force a poor defenseless woman out of a bar. Let them test her cup, see what you slipped her."

The man glared at her, and stormed out the building. Casey sighed in relief.

She looked at the woman. She looked like she was going to puke. Casey sighed, and went to fetch her a bucket. She had the feeling she wasn't going to go home for a while.

* * *

><p>Alex Cabot woke up with a major headache, and a sore back. She groaned. She didn't remember her bed being this uncomfortable.<p>

She opened her eyes, and saw that she was, in fact, sleeping on a hardwood floor. The floor of a restaurant, no less. She sat up. What the hell happened?

"Sleeping Beauty has awakened," a female voice said. She looked to her side, and saw a red-headed female sitting at the table next to her, "How are you feeling?"

"I have a giant headache, but other than that, I feel okay," Alex responded.

"A piece of advice," the red-headed woman said, "Don't leave your drink unattended."

"What?" Alex exclaimed, standing up, "I…I was…"

"Yeah," the woman answered. Alex felt her body stiffen at the news.

"Was…was I?"

"Don't worry, he didn't touch you," the woman reassure, "Luckily for you, I had a good enough memory to know you ordered the least-alcoholic drink on the menu."

Alex smiled at the woman, and sighed in relief.

"This is so embarrassing," Alex said, "I start my job as a prosecutor tomorrow. You'd think if I'm smart enough to pass the bar, I'd be smart enough not to let myself get drugged."

"If it makes you feel any better, I've thrown up on a judge," the woman responded. Alex couldn't help but laugh.

"What?"

The woman smiled at her.

"Yeah. He was a guest speaker in one of my classes, and I had food poisoning."

Alex laughed. This woman was definitely making her feel much better about herself.

"Are you in Law School?" She asked the woman.

"Yep," the red-headed bartender responded, "I'm hoping to be a prosecutor one day."

"I wish you luck with that," Alex told her, "Thanks again for not letting me leave with that creep."

"Don't mention it," her savior responded, "I look forward to hopefully working with you in the future."

"Same here," Alex said, and walked out the door.

Alex couldn't help but smile to herself as she walked down the road. Her conversation with that woman completely took her mind off of her close-call, not to mention her headache. The excitement that crossed the woman's face as she talked about becoming a prosecutor made her thing back to a couple of years ago, when graduating from law school couldn't come soon enough. She liked the thought of working with that woman in the future.

"Shoot!" Alex exclaimed suddenly, "I never got her name."

* * *

><p><strong>February 22, 2005<br>Office of Casey Novak  
>12:30 PM<br>**

This case had taken a lot out of Casey Novak. She thought about everything the ADA before her had gone through, and couldn't help but think "What if it had been me?" She had worked three jobs to pay her way through law school, she couldn't imagine if that was all taken away from her.

There was something else about Alex Cabot, though, that made her thing. She could have sworn she had met the woman one time before. She knew she recognized her. However, she couldn't quite place where.

Casey sighed.

"I guess I'll never know."


End file.
